Musharraf for 'defensive deterrence'

He says Pak's defence strategy is to achieve defensive deterrence without offensive design against anyone.

President Pervez Musharraf has said that Pakistan is achieving "offensive-defensive deterrence" without getting into arms race.

Pakistan's defence strategy was "defensive deterrence" without offensive design against anyone, he said in Karachi at the launch of the French designed but indigenously built Agosta 90-B submarine that he christened "Hamza".

"We have analysed whatever is happening around us and today I can say with full surety and conviction that the development process that we have adopted for the armed forces of Pakistan, in accordance with our economic potential, is more than adequate to guarantee our strategy of defensive deterrence," he said.

"When we talk of a defensive deterrence, we mean an offensive-defensive deterrence." He said the submarine today had given an offensive punch to the Navy.

"We have been following a policy of self-reliance and this project is a physical manifestation of such a strategy," The News quoted him as saying.

"With a smaller and agile force, we can still, without getting into an arms race, maintain our strategy of defensive deterrence irrespective of massive spending that may be going on around us," Musharraf said.

The president lambasted "drawing room critics and pseudo-intellectuals", who talked against the expenditure on the armed forces and sought a reduction in the armed forces.

"I want to tell them that security and peace is only guaranteed through force and strength, never through weakness."

Musharraf has of late been citing the current crisis in Lebanon as an example to explain his viewpoint on defence strategy.

What was happening in Lebanon was tragic, he said adding that peace can only be guaranteed through strength.